The Portal
by SnapeLikesMyPatronus
Summary: Vala decides to be herself and cause a problem, Daniel tries to stop her... well... stuff happens.


SG-1 was preparing for their next mission. They were being equipped with their guns as the gate was dialing out to P3X-819. As the portal opened, Vala spoke.

"I don't see why we need to go back there," she sounded bored. "We went three times already and found nothing."

"That's exactly why we're going back," Daniel spoke as if he had told her this many times already. "If there's a gate, there had to have been a civilization. Plus, this is our last trip. If we don't find anything this time, we will just send SG-12 to search."

"Don't see why we can't just send them now," Vala muttered under her breath, messing with a clip on her military vest.

"Vala," Daniel said warningly, glaring over at her.

Vala rolled her eyes and put her hands up in defeat.

Daniel, Vala, Mitchell and Teal'c stepped through the gate and emerged on another planet. There was a dense forest surrounding the stargate. Teal'c looked around the area, then headed south from the gate. The rest followed.

"If we don't find anything good, I'm blaming you," Vala whispered at Daniel, then went to walk past him. Daniel grabbed her jacket sleeve and pulled her back.

"Would you just stop?" He was beyond frustrated with her, so his voice was loud. Every week was the same. If Vala got bored, she always blamed him. "Honestly, Vala. I'm tired of this crap."

Vala said nothing, but stared at him for a short moment, then pulled away and walked ahead of him. Daniel thought he saw her wipe her face with her sleeve, which instantly made him feel awful. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes for a moment before following behind the rest of the team.

"Colonel Mitchell, I believe I've found something," Teal'c was heading into a clearing not too far ahead when he called back.

In the clearing there was a small abandoned village. . . or what looked to be a village. It was so run down and the ruins didn't even look like building shapes anymore.

"No one has been here in a very long time," Daniel said as he inspected some of the ruins. He expected Vala to make a quip about it being obvious, but she was silent.

"Let's go ahead and set up here, take a look around, see if we can find anything else," Mitchell said, setting his gear down near the ruins.

Vala walked a short ways away, Teal'c close by in case there were any enemies near. She finally came across a well. The stone was laid perfectly, flawless, even after so much time it seemed untouched. She walked closer to it and looked inside. There was water pretty close to the top. She slowly moved her hand to touch it, but Teal'c grabbed her wrist.

"It could be dangerous," he spoke cautiously. "Daniel Jackson, Colonel Mitchell, over here."

Vala sighed and folded her arms as the other two team members came over to the well. Daniel inspected the well, then wrote in a notepad. Of course, for Vala, this was boring. She couldn't touch it, she couldnt even breathe on it, according to Daniel. The water inside looked so inviting, she found her hand moving toward it, inching closer and closer to the water.

"Vala, no!" Daniel grabbed her hand just as she touched the water.

Mitchell and Teal'c were left suddenly alone, looking at the well where Daniel and Vala had been standing just seconds before. "Jackson?" Mitchell looked around. "Damn it. Figures this would happen."

"Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c looked down into the water of the well and only saw his reflection staring back.

.

~~~x~~~

.

Daniel and Vala appeared together, standing in a field, Daniel's hand still on her hand. He quickly let go and slapped his hands on his legs. "Agh, why do you always touch things?" Daniel's voice grew louder as he spoke, or rather yelled, at Vala. "You always do this. Please, just for once, listen to me. You are the most annoying person I've ever had to deal with, I swear."

Vala stared at him, and he could see tears forming in her eyes. "Daniel…" she could barely speak. She knew she screwed up badly. "Please, I'm sorry. I didn't think it would actually do anything."

"Yeah, well it did," Daniel started walking away from her, ready to find his way back to the others. He started talking, mostly making notes to himself. "Probably a teleportation device. There's a forest over there, and nothing over here. Maybe a mile's walk, if that."

They walked for a while, into the forest, in circles, then ended up back in the field. Vala kept quiet now, knowing they weren't anywhere near close to finding the others. Daniel was about to say something when he saw someone walking across the field toward them. It was a young man, Daniel noticed as he got closer to them.

"Welcome," the man stopped in front of them and smiled brightly. "Are you lost?"

"Oh, well, sort of," Daniel forced a smile and nodded. "We were just exploring some ruins of an old civilization. Is that nearby?"

The man looked confused. "There are no ruins here. Just our village. We've been here for a very long time."

"We?" Daniel was curious now. "There's others?"

"My family, many others, and generations before me have lived here," the man nodded, pointing south of the field. "Please, join us. We welcome everyone."

Daniel and Vala followed the man. The village they came upon looked almost like the ruins they had discovered, except it looked freshly constructed. Everything was kept perfectly, the people roaming the dirt paths carried baskets of perfect fruit and freshly baked bread.

"Is there an elder or someone in charge around here that I can speak to?" Daniel asked as he looked around. "I would love to know more about your village. How long has it been here?"

"Right this way," the man led the way across the paths and toward a bigger house. "This village has been here for hundreds of years."

"How?" Daniel was amazed at how well kept the buildings were.

The man didn't respond, they arrived at the large house and he opened the door to let them in. "Any more questions, Marlo can answer."

Stepping inside, Daniel examined everything. "Amazing," he whispered. Vala nudged him slightly as an older man stepped into the room. Daniel quickly gathered himself and bowed slightly, greeting the man. "Are you Marlo?"

"I am," the man smiled just as the younger man had before. "Welcome. You are Daniel and Vala."

"How did you know our names?" Vala was growing suspicious. "Are you some sort of wizard?"

Marlo laughed and shook his head. "No, but I had a vision that you would come here through the portal."

"The well?" Daniel had known something was different about that thing. "So, um, is there any way we can get back there? Our team is probably looking for us and-"

"The way back was sealed a long time ago," the old man waved his hand in the air to dismiss the subject.

Daniel and Vala looked at each other, Vala looking extremely apologetic. Daniel sighed and lowered his head. "Look, if we could just find the place that was sealed off, maybe we could go and we wouldn't have to burden you with our presence here."

"It is no burden," the man smiled again, then left the room.

"These people are weird, Daniel," Vala started to leave the room, but Daniel grabbed her arm.

"Don't walk off, we need to stick together," Daniel stood next to her, then nodded to the doors. "Let's go look for a way back."

Daniel spent hours looking for another well. After they searched the entire village, they walked back to the field. It was starting to get dark and Vala didn't really care for exploring in the dark.

"Why don't we just stay in the village for tonight and come back tomorrow?" Vala felt so upset with herself that she got them into this mess.

Daniel stood for a moment, looking off into the field. A pit was forming in his stomach. He had seen no stargate either, which meant there was slim chance of them getting out unless they found a portal back.

"Fine," he finally said. They walked back to the village together.

Once they were settled into a guest house, Vala on the bed and Daniel on the floor, everything was quiet.

"Daniel," Vala said. Her voice seemed so loud in the dead silence of the room. "Don't sleep on the floor, please."

"It's comfortable enough, Vala. Go to sleep," was all he said.

~~~x~~~

A few days passed, Daniel and Vala both went exploring in the field every day. There had to be a way back right around where they appeared. That was the only logical place. Daniel even ventured into the forest again to make sure that they weren't missing the stargate or the old ruins, but he found nothing.

~~~x~~~

After a week, Vala grew tired. She would stay in the village while Daniel continued to look. Vala tried to convince Daniel that the SGC would be sending teams to look for them until they were found, but Daniel didn't see any signs of people other than the villagers, so he tossed aside that idea.

~~~x~~~

On the second week, Daniel only went out maybe two days. He got intoxicated with all of the artifacts that the people in the village had found over the years. He would spend hours studying them. The people were glad to share their findings. They had everything they wanted, as if out of thin air. Vala was getting quite comfortable now in their little guest house. She had a few items brought in to make it more "homey". Daniel didn't like that she was settling down and not caring to look for a way back, but then he realized he had not been looking as hard either.

~~~x~~~

A month went by. Daniel groaned as he went to lay on the floor for bed, but Vala stopped him.

"Daniel," she looked him straight in the eyes. "I got us into this mess. Forgive me or not, but you're not sleeping on the floor anymore. It's not doing you any good. Come on."

As she pushed him over to the bed, Daniel rolled his eyes, but didn't refuse. He hurt everywhere. "Just no funny stuff."

"Funny stuff?" Vala looked confused, then smiled. "Oh, you mean sex. No, Daniel. I won't have sex with you."

Daniel shook his head and rolled his eyes, climbing into bed and facing the wall. Vala laid next to him, staring up at the ceiling. She wasn't tired, even though it was late. Everyone in the village would go to their homes just as the sun set, and everyone was asleep by dark. It was odd, hearing no sounds outside. Not even an animal or a bird.

.

~~~x~~~

.

The next few days were better for Daniel. With a well-rested body, he was able to do more things that he wanted to do. Things kept appearing here and there for him to examine, books to read, almost as if someone were wanting him to stay there and enjoy it.

Daniel finally stopped one day and looked around at the piles of books and artifacts around him. This was everything he had ever wanted… how?

Leaving the house, he went to Marlo's and banged on the door. It was just about sundown, so people were heading home. He knocked again, quieter this time. Marlo answered, smiling at Daniel.

"Ah, Daniel," Marlo looked at him questioningly. "Are you enjoying everything?"

"What are you doing?" Daniel cut straight to it. "I don't know how, but you're giving everyone exactly what they want, keeping them content and happy, not wanting them to leave. Why?"

Marlo's smile melted away and he stared at Daniel. "I don't know what you mean."

"Cut the crap," Daniel shook his head and held up a book. "I have this exact book on my home planet. There's no way you could have this. What's going on?"

"You have everything you could ever want," Marlo didn't want to explain himself. "Now, go."

Daniel nodded, but only because he didn't want to cause a huge scene. He would find another way out. He had to. He made his way back to the house where Vala was fast asleep, but stopped before going inside. It was dark, no one was around…

He turned and went toward the field. The answer had to be out there. As he walked, he kept thinking about SG-1 and everyone back on Earth and how he wanted to just go back. Nothing was right here, it was too perfect. Once he reached the clearing where he and Vala had appeared, he stopped and closed his eyes.

"Please," he muttered, almost losing hope in ever finding a way back home. "I just want to go home."

After a moment he opened his eyes, but it wasn't very dark where he was standing. He looked above him and saw a small, glowing orb floating above his head. "Okay… that's new," Daniel took a few steps backward and the orb followed him. Just out of curiousity, Daniel spoke to it. "Can you show me the way out of here?" The orb spun around his head, making a low whirring sound. Daniel took this as a yes. "Wait here."

Daniel started back to the house and the orb stayed where he had been standing. He quickly ran now, reaching the house and opening the door quickly. "Vala, wake up," he whispered quickly, but she just stirred in the bed and rolled over. He ran over to the bed and shook her slightly, speaking only a little louder as not to wake any of their neighbors. "Vala. Get up. We're going home."

"Oh, Daniel, go to bed," she grumbled, but now he was picking her up out of bed and getting her on her feet.

"Seriously, we have to go," the urgency in his voice woke her up now, so she grabbed her gear as he grabbed his. They put it on quickly and made their way out of the house… but they didn't get far. Marlo stood outside, two large men on either side of him.

"You can't leave," Marlo spoke softly. One of the bigger men started toward them, but Daniel raised his gun at him.

"I don't think so," Daniel gave a tight-lipped smile. "I know what's going on. You can't keep these people here. I'm going to get them out."

"You won't," Marlo shook his head, shrugging. "They won't go with you. They like it here. I saved them a long time ago, they trust me."

"Saved them?" Daniel scoffed. "You're basically keeping them prisoner here. Not letting them out past dark. Giving them whatever they desire. I've not seen one person leave the village except for that guy that found us in the field."

"I sent him to get you," Marlo heaved a heavy sigh. "I saved these people from themselves."

"What does that mean?" Vala spoke up, now pointing her weapon at Marlo.

"They weren't happy, they had nothing, they were killing each other," he waved a hand at his men and they stepped back slightly. "I created the portal and came to them, promising them eternal happiness. Who wouldn't want that?"

"Controlled eternal happiness, though. People will eventually turn against you," Daniel looked toward the field, then back to Marlo. "What's the orb?"

"Something I created that I wish I hadn't," Marlo sounded angry with himself. "At first it was a way for the people to travel back and forth. Too many people started leaving at first, so I made it known that no one was to leave at night. The orbs are guides back to the sad world, the dead world. They are only out at night, when someone truly needs them. I've not seen one in over a hundred years."

"Yeah, well one came to me. Which means I need to go," Daniel stared him down. "We… need to go. These people. You. Just give it up. They can live a happy life, uncontrolled. You can live in peace with them."

"No," Marlo stood tall for an old man. "It was a mistake that you came through the portal, so you can leave, but you're not taking the people. They love it here. They're happy. Leave them."

Vala nudged Daniel and jerked her head toward the field in a "let's hurry and go" sort of way. Daniel took the hint. "Fine," he lowered his weapon and took a deep breath. "But you'll eventually have to let them go."

"When that time comes, it comes," Marlo waved them off.

Daniel and Vala made their way to the field, to where the orb suspended mid-air. It whirred again when it saw Daniel, then another one appeared above Vala.

"Take us to the portal," Daniel said.

The orbs moved swiftly into the forest that he had already explored so many times. Daniel and Vala walked for what seemed like an hour before the orbs stopped in a little clearing. They hadn't explored this far, so Daniel was very wary about his surroundings. The two orbs circled each other and hovered low to the ground. A well appeared, looking exactly like the one Vala had touched a month ago.

"Should we touch it?" Vala asked cautiously, biting her bottom lip.

"Are you serious? Now you ask?" Daniel was about to go off on her, but he frowned and calmed himself down when he saw Vala's face growing sad again. "Look. You got us into this, but I'm not mad anymore. We found a way out. Just… next time don't touch anything."

Vala nodded, then Daniel took her hand. "On the count of three," Daniel counted, then they both touched the water in the well.

.

~~~x~~~

.

Not even a second later they stood back at the ruins, right next to the well. Mitchell and Teal'c stood on the opposite side.

"Jeez, what the hell?!" Mitchell was surprised by the sudden presence of Daniel and Vala. "Dude, what just happened?"

Daniel and Vala looked at each other confused. "Wait, what?" Daniel frowned and looked at his team members. "Have you guys come back every single day to look for us?"

Mitchell raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Every day? Jackson, what happened to you? You guys just disappeared like two minutes ago. Teal'c and I were left standing here looking like idiots."

"Two minutes?" Vala asked, then looked at Daniel. She realized they were still holding hands, so she let go. "We were gone for a month."

"Right, and I'm sleeping beauty," Mitchell joking didn't make Vala very happy. "Nice trick. Let's go home, there's nothing here except some funky transport technology."

"Uh, Mitchell," Daniel walked over to him, facing him. "Look. That well is a portal to some really weird, time-distorted place. I found the people that actually lived here, but they don't want to leave. The guy running the place is like some really advanced alien. He can give them everything they ever want, I guess."

"Oh…" Mitchell raised his eyebrows and scratched his head. "Well, I mean, if you understand it all, I guess we'll just let it be. So it was a month for you two, and two minutes for Teal'c and I?"

"I mean," Daniel felt weird. It really had only been two minutes, but he had experienced an entire month. "I guess so. I've had a long month, you've had a long two minutes, let's just get back to the SGC and let the General know about this place. We'll just seal off the gate to this one. We don't want anyone else getting stuck in that place."

The four of them made their way back to the gate. Vala fell behind slightly. She watched Daniel walking in front of her. The many nights she had shared a bed with Daniel were wonderful, but now they were gone. The feelings she had been developing for him, had to be gone now. She'd be in her own bed and he would be in his. Just as a tear dripped from her eye, Daniel looked back.

"Hey," he frowned and stopped walking, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're going home."

Vala nodded and wiped away her tears. "Yeah, home."

Daniel placed a little kiss on her forehead and then started off again in front of her. She felt warm in the face as she realized that she wasn't the only one who had developed feelings over the last month. A smile crept onto her face as they made their way home.


End file.
